Corona final impeach battle focuses on dollars, BGEI ownership

Chief Justice Renato Corona. INQUIRER PHOTO

The final impeachment battle will be fought over the reported foreign currency deposits of Chief Justice Renato Corona, three senator-judges said Thursday.

“The dollar account would be a focal point” of the testimony of the Chief Justice, said Sen. Francis Pangilinan in a text message to the Inquirer.

Although a peripheral issue, Pangilinan also deemed important the nature and circumstances of the sale to a daughter of the Chief Justice, Carla Castillo-Corona, of the majority shares of stock of Basa-Guidote Enterprises Inc. (BGEI), which had earned P34.7 million from the sale of its property in Manila to the city government. Carla only paid P28,000.

2 different issues

Sen. Antonio Trillanes IV said Corona would have to explain not just his supposed $10 million being investigated by the Office of the Ombudsman but also the five dollar accounts he allegedly failed to declare in his SALN.

Trillanes said at the Kapihan sa Senado weekly forum that the five dollar accounts believed to be in Philippine Savings Bank (PSBank) and the $10 million that civil society leaders claimed Corona had stashed somewhere were two different issues.

It was the lawyers of Corona who raised the issue of the sale of the property on Tuesday as a defense for the P11 million he borrowed from BGEI. The Chief Justice declared the loan, which he referred to as a cash advance from the family-owned company, in his SALN.

Pangilinan mentioned the “noninclusion of certain real properties and millions in peso deposits, and the P11-million Basa-Guidote cash advance, SALN entry, among others [things]” as issues important to the senator-judges.

Pangilinan said the much-awaited appearance of Corona at his own impeachment trial would be “his chance to air his side and clear the air.”

Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III, for his part, was looking forward to the Chief Justice’s testimony.

“Depends on how their testimony develops,” said Pimentel, when asked by phone what sort of questions he would ask the chief jurist.

Should he decide to grill the Chief Justice, Sen. Gregorio Honasan would like to elicit the truth about the “dollar accounts.”

“The questioning will focus on the alleged bank accounts,” said Honasan, when interviewed by phone.

“We will have to focus on the objective of his appearance as witness: to clarify, confirm, or deny—backed up by sufficient proof—that the alleged bank accounts and their relation to the nondeclaration or misdeclaration in the SALN,” said Honasan, referring to the statement of assets, liabilities and net worth.

The senator said the discussions on the dollar accounts fall within Article 2 of the impeachment complaint, “which is the focus now.”

Present solid proof

Article 2 alleges that the Chief Justice fudged entries in his SALN.

“In open court, it’s not a simple case of deny or confirm. If it’s true, present evidence to that effect. It’s not a multiple choice. You have to back it up by solid proof or evidence (whether to deny or confirm the dollar accounts). That’s the way it works,” said Honasan.

The proof “must be credible or believable evidence in the eyes of the people—that’s the ultimate test of (Corona’s) testimony,” said Honasan.

Corona, through his lawyers, told the impeachment court on Tuesday that he would take the witness stand if the court subpoenaed Ombudsman Conchita Carpio Morales and 10 others in connection with the purported $10 million accounts.

Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile swiftly granted the defense request, but issued a subpoena Wednesday only to Carpio Morales and complainants in the graft complaint against Corona—Akbayan Rep. Walden Bello, former Akbayan party-list Rep. Risa Hontiveros, civil society leader Harvey Keh and Emmanuel Tiu Santos.

House prosecutors included the five dollar accounts supposedly undeclared in Corona’s SALN in the articles of impeachment. The five accounts are believed to contain at least $700,000.

Marikina City Rep. Romero Quimbo said that Corona’s decision to testify should shed more light on his other dollar accounts at PSBank the opening of which were blocked by the Supreme Court.

“The figure seen there is allegedly $700,000 which remains unvalidated because of the TRO (temporary restraining order). We look forward to the testimonies of the witnesses to find out how much his deposits are,” said Quimbo.

Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. said Corona should be able to answer the senator-judges questions that “not even his wife would be in the best position to answer.”

Belmonte said that the prosecution team would stick to the issues and avoid asking irrelevant questions. “I think he would be treated with dignity. Without question, certainly, none of the prosecutors will demean him or anything like that,” said Belmonte.

“The basis of our cross examination will be the copy that the Ombudsman will disclose when she gives her testimony,” said Isabela Rep. Giorgidi Aggabao in a text message.